


and they were roommates

by thevirginiatheater



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Break Up, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29102709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thevirginiatheater/pseuds/thevirginiatheater
Summary: Modern AU. Mikasa and Annie are roommates and these are their shenanigans. New chapter coming end of Feb.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart, Mikasa Ackerman/Jean Kirstein
Comments: 19
Kudos: 110





	and they were roommates

**Author's Note:**

> UPDATE: Ok, we're making this a multi-chapter thing guys. See you before the end of Feb
> 
> I’d like to dedicate this to r/titanfolk which has helped me survive the pandemic. Y’all are the real Gs.
> 
> But even more so to my roommate/best friend. This is only kinda based on us.

And they were roommates

Sunday

“You should just go ask him out,” Annie said.

“Is that weird? To just ask someone out at the gym?” Mikasa said.

Annie shrugged, “I wouldn’t know,”

“I keep forgetting that you haven’t dated anyone before Armin,” said Mikasa.

“Ya, ya. I was a lonely homeschooled virgin,” Annie said. “Anyways, back to you. You’ve been talking about dating again and this guy checks you out every time we work out. I’m not good with these things and I can tell he’s interested.”

Mikasa paused. “If it goes wrong, we’ll have to switch gyms.”

Annie sighed. “Fair enough.”

“Are we benching next?” said Mikasa.

Annie nodded. “I think Handsome Gym Guy looks like your type,” she said.

Mikasa docked her weights. “What makes you say that?”

“Tall, long hair, abs,” Annie said. “Aren’t those things you like?”

“Well, yes,” said Mikasa. “But I’m not going to ask him out. I haven’t flirted with anyone in five years.”

“You have to start somewhere,” Annie said. “Putting yourself out there means actually talking to people.”

“Gross.”

“Whatever dude.”

“Well, you’re going to talk to boys tonight anyways because I have stuff to drop off at Bert and Reiner’s,”

Mikasa groaned. “Couldn’t we have done that before we worked out?”

Annie shrugged. “I forgot.”

“I don’t want to see them when I’m all sweaty.” Mikasa said.

“We’ll just drop stuff off at the door,” Annie said. “We don’t need to even go in.”

“Can’t I just wait in the car then?” said Mikasa.

“Between the two of them, there are approximately 3 social skills. That’s too much awkward for me,” she said. “If I’m going down, you’re going down with me.”

Reiner answered the door and Mikasa couldn’t decide whether that was the better or worse outcome.

“Happy birthday,” Annie deadpanned, holding out the box. “Your mom wanted me to get this to you.”

“Oh, thanks,” he said. “Did you have your tournament last weekend?”

“I did,” she said. “I won.”

“Very cool,”Reiner

“Yep,” Annie said. Mikasa thought they were done, so she turned to leave when Annie said, “While we’re here, do you or Bert know anyone we could set Mikasa up with?”

Reiner didn’t say anything.

“Okay, we’re going to try a different question. Do you know anyone?” Annie said.

“I know Bertholdt,” Reiner said.

“How do you guys get dates?” Mikasa asked.

“We don’t,” said Reiner. “Have you tried Tinder?”

“What’s that?” said Mikasa.

“And I thought Annie lived in a rock,” Reiner said. “You’ve never heard of Tinder?”

“It’s that dating app,” Annie said. “You swipe right for people you think are cute, you talk, they ghost you. It’s a party.”

“Have you ever been on a date with someone from Tinder?” Mikasa asked.

“No,” she said. “I’m pretty intimidating for most boys.”

“I really don’t think that’s the case,” said Bertholdt from somewhere in the house.

“You should totally get Tinder, Mikasa.” Reiner said. “I’d swipe right for you.”

Mikasa was unsure how to respond to that. “That’s... sweet. I guess.”

Nevertheless, she downloaded Tinder as soon as she got home.

“Annie, are you good at Tinder?” said Mikasa.

“I literally met my boyfriend at my house. Do you really think I could be helpful here?” said Annie.

Mikasa ignored her. “What do I put in my bio? I already put that I recently graduated law school.”

“Put ‘I could probably beat you in a fight,’” Annie said.

“Ok,” said Mikasa.

“That’s really what you're putting?” Annie asked.

“Is there anything wrong with it?” said Mikasa.

Annie shook her head. “Nope. Sounds great. Good luck with that. Have you seen Titan anywhere?”

“I think he’s in the bathroom,” Mikasa said.

“I don’t know why he likes laying in the sink so much.” Annie said. “I’m going to hop in the shower.”

“Have fun showering with your weird cat,” Mikasa said.

“He only did that once,” Annie said. “ I expect ten matches by the time I get out.”

Monday

The first notification popped up when she was at work.

“Annie!” she called as she walked in the door. “I got my first match!”

“That’s exciting,” called Annie from somewhere in the apartment.

Mikasa looked around their living room, Annie’s usual spot. “Where are you?”

“I’m in my bedroom,” she called.

Mikasa found Annie halfway under her bed, only her legs visible.

“You need any help there?” said Mikasa.

“Titan got some plastic and now he’s hiding under my bed so he can eat it,” said Annie.

“Did you try doing the pspspspsp thing?” said Mikasa.

“It didn’t work. Do you think you could crack open a can of tuna for me?” said Annie. “I’m resorting to bribery.”

The tuna did the trick. Titan sashayed out, only to be picked up by Annie. “Open wide,” she said. He meowed in defiance, but that moment of weakness allowed Annie to fish out the clump of cellophane he had been feasting on. Titan was fat, orange, and not particularly bright. His face looked like a cartoon drawn by someone who only had a vague idea of what cats looked like.

“He’s really quite dumb,” said Mikasa.

“He’s dumb, but he’s my dumb baby,” Annie said, petting him as he snarfed down tuna. “Who’s the match?”

“A man named Thomas. He looks nice, but not particularly interesting,” Mikasa said.

“Show me a picture,” Annie leaned over to see the screen. “Looks blonde and generic.”

“Be nice,” said Mikasa.

“Armin’s coming over tonight,” Annie said. “He’s going to pick us up dinner. You want anything?”

“Oo. If he’s getting Shiganshina, have him get me that rice bowl I like. If not, just get me a drink.”

“Sweet,” said Annie. “I’ll text him.”

The matches rolled in throughout the night. She spent the evening messaging boys while Armin and Annie watched a true crime show on the television.

“Don’t you ever want a break from this stuff?” Mikasa said when she took a break from her busy phone.

Annie shrugged. “It’s pretty interesting. Plus the autopsies I do usually don’t involve violent crime.”

“What do you usually do then?” said Mikasa.

She took a sip of her water bottle then snuggled back into Armin. “Toxicology reports. Lots of overdoses. Lots of drugs cut with fentanyl. Dreary stuff.”

“I think it’s awesome what you do, Annie,” said Armin. “It’s not a job a lot of people could do.”

“You get to a point where dead bodies don’t phase you. The smell gets better with time too,” she said.

“I still can’t get over the fact that you went to medical school to end up solely working with dead people,” said Mikasa.

“I wanted to be a wildlife biologist,” said Annie. “I only went to med school because my dad told me too. I just realized somewhere along the line that I couldn’t deal with people everyday.”

“So you chose dead ones?” said Mikasa.

“Look Annie!” Armin said. “It’s you!” Some fat gray-haired man with a beard and the title medical examiner was on the screen.

“He looks just like me too,” Annie said.

“You’re way too cute to make jokes like that,” he said. She smiled.

Mikasa couldn’t help but feel jealous in those moments. She used to have someone who talked to her like that. She hated to admit it, but seeing Annie and Armin together really just made her miss him.

In those moments, she’d distract herself. That’s a good trick.

“Ok, Armin, want to know what’s really weird?” Mikasa said. “I’ve never seen Annie in her work clothes.”

“Really?” Armin raised his eyebrows.

“Really,” she said. “I leave before she does and get back later for the most part. So whenever I see her, it’s the gray hoodie and the running shorts.”

“I’ll have you know I have multiple grey hoodies,” Annie said.

“Have you ever considered a color besides grey?” said Mikasa.

“That’s rich from someone who wears solely black, white and red,” Annie said.

“I have that pink sweater,” said Mikasa.

“That’s literally one sweater,” Annie said.

“Black works for me,” Mikasa said. “Black has never done me wrong.”

“Are you going to wear black on all these dates you’re going on?” said Annie.

“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.”

Tuesday

“Annie!” Mikasa called as soon as she walked through the apartment door. “Someone asked me out on a date for tomorrow night!”

“That’s awesome!” a voice called back. Definitely not Annie’s.

“I didn’t think you’d be over today, Armin,”

Annie and Armin were making cookies in the kitchen. “So it sounds like your Tinder adventures are going well,” Annie said, pouring in a far too generous portion of chocolate chips into the dough.

“They are! I’ve talked to several interesting men,” she said.

“Is interesting a compliment?” Annie said, digging up a heaping spoon of cookie dough.

“I think so,” said Mikasa. “Interesting is a good start. Interest can lead to attraction.”

“You’re not attracted to these dudes? That’s like the whole point of Tinder,” Annie said.

“It’s not like they’re bad looking. I just keep comparing them to..” she left the “to Eren” unsaid. She didn’t want to say his name.

“It’s hard to compare to a 10 pack and a man bun,” Annie said.

“Do I need to grow my hair out, Annie? Do you like man buns?” Armin said, taking a spoonful of cookie dough for himself.

“I like your hair,” she said, running her hands through it. “It suits you.” She kissed his cheek.

He blushed. It had been six months of official dating at this point, but Armin still seemed smitten and shy. He wrapped his arms around her. Was it PDA if it was your own apartment?

“Do you think Titan would like cookie dough?” said Annie.

“I have no idea. Let’s not find out,” Armin said, letting her go. “Anyone get murdered today?”

“Nope,” said Annie with a bit of a sigh. “I’ve been at the job for over a year and I really thought I would’ve seen one by now.”

“Isn’t a good thing that people aren’t getting murdered?” said Mikasa.

Annie gave her a joking glare. “Isn’t it a good thing when people aren’t suing each other?”

“Touché,” said Mikasa. “You going to do the dishes when you’re done?”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Yes, mom.”

“We’ll leave this kitchen spotless!” Armin said, giving Annie a squeeze.

“I’ll forgive you if it’s not,” she said. “But only if you give me a spoonful of that cookie dough.”

“Deal.”

Wednesday

She could hear it from outside the apartment.

THUMP.

“Are you beating up your boyfriend again?” Mikasa asked as she opened the door.

THUD

“It’s not getting beat up if it’s consensual,” she called. “It’s practice. It’s a learning experience.”

“Are you learning, Armin?” said Mikasa.

“Definitely,” he replied through huffs of heavy breaths. “It’s not everyday that you learn from the judo master.”

“You’re back earlier than I expected. Was this date a bust?” Annie said.

“He was really cool,” Mikasa said, slinging her purse on her armchair.

“And?” Annie said.

“I’m so not into him,” she said. “I couldn’t even force it. Which is a shame because he objectively is amazing.”

“Objectively?” said Armin.

“He was a pilot who had been all over the world. And he wasn’t stuck up. It was one of the best conversations I’ve had in awhile. Just no sparks.”

“Huh,” said Annie. She paused. “You could date Zeke.”

“I’m not interested in Mr. I-Do-Vasectomies-for-A-Living,” Mikasa said. “Plus has he ever expressed interest in women? Or men? Or anyone?”

“I don’t think dating half brothers is a good idea,” said Armin. “But it would be fun since you’d be dating my roommate!”

“Say no more. Let’s disregard Mikasa’s total lack of attraction and interest and invite the monkey over,” Annie said.

“Why do you only make jokes at my expense?” said Mikasa.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” joked Annie. “I’m sure Zeke is totally more emotionally stable than his brother despite having twice the amount of daddy issues.”

“Maybe that was too far,” said Armin.

Annie sighed. “Fine. I’ll be nice again. Got any upcoming dates?”

“I have one planned for tomorrow and for Friday.” said Mikasa.

“Are you interested in either?”

“We’ll see.”

Thursday

“How did this one go?” Annie said as Mikasa walked through the door.

“He asked me if I had sushi after I told him I’m half Japanese.” said Mikasa.

“Are you sure you weren’t on a date with Sasha?” Annie said.

“A date with Sasha would’ve been much more enjoyable,” said Mikasa.

“Speaking of Sasha, her wedding invite came in the mail today. I put it on the fridge.”

Sasha looked so happy in her engagement photos. She and Nicollo really were made for each other.

This should’ve been you.

Mikasa tried to shake the thought from her mind. She was happy for Sasha. She didn’t want everybody’s happiness to be tainted by her feelings for Him. But she always thought it would be them first. Even as she watched couple after couple get engaged, she thought it was surely coming. Every holiday, she’d get so excited in hopes for a diamond ring. Surely it would be this Valentine’s, this Fritzmas...

She snapped back to the kitchen.

“You know Annie, Sasha got engaged while she was living with me. You could be next,” said Mikasa.

“It’s way too early to talk about that,” Annie said.

“Is it too early to talk about your future child Hitch Mikasa Artlert?” Mikasa teased.

“I love how this fantasy baby you created doesn’t take your first name. Hitch remains my favorite roommate in even Mikasa’s dream world.”

“Hitch Supremacy threatens us all,” said Mikasa. “Isn’t she having a baby soon?”

“Yep,” she said. “Apparently the nursery is my old room so that’s fun. Hitch keeps on wanting us to double with her and Marlowe but our schedules never work out.”

“When I start dating someone, we can double,” said Mikasa.

“Hey, Mikasa? Not to be awkward, but are you sure you’re ready to date again?” Annie said. “You don’t seem like you’ve been enjoying this tinder thing at all. In fact, you seem stressed. And spacey. And I haven’t seen you like this since-”

The break up remained a taboo topic even a year later. Annie moved in a month after it happened, but the wound was definitely still raw then. She was glad Annie didn’t say anything about her crying every night back then.

“I’m fine,” said Mikasa. “Just need to meet the right person is all.”

“Okay,” said Annie. “I’m not telling you to do anything and I hope that wasn’t crossing a line. I just worry about you.”

“You?” said Mikasa. “Worried about me?”

“Shut up,” said Annie.

Friday

“Hello?”

“I was so worried you wouldn't answer your phone,” said Mikasa.

“Aren’t you on your date right now?” Annie said.

“Well, funny you should mention that,” Mikasa said. The girl applying lipstick in the mirror next to her gave her a glare. “I need you to fake an emergency so I have an excuse to come home.”

“Is it really that bad?” Annie asked.

“Yes,” said Mikasa. “He hasn’t asked me a question this entire time. The only things he will talk about are the stock market and the unexpected benefits of nationalism.”

“Sounds like a charmer,” said Annie. “Do you think you are in any physical danger?”

Mikasa thought for a second “No.”

“Then I’m going to let you handle it. You’re a big girl. You can get out of uncomfortable situations yourself,” Annie said.

“You suck,” said Mikasa.

“I'm surprised you’re just figuring that out now,” Annie said. The line went dead.

She’d just have to face it.

She looked in the mirror. She made sure her blouse had just the slightest amount of volume and smoothed out her skirt. It was a shame she looked this pretty for this lousy of a date.

The restaurant was way too large and way too dark, but her date’s shock of red hair stood out from across the room. She could tell he was checking the stock market on his phone. She could just leave and not come back. He probably wouldn’t even notice. She had camped out in the bathroom for over ten minutes after all.

But what would Annie think?

“Sorry, I ended up having to take a call,” she said as she sat down. “Work never stops.”

“I thought about becoming a lawyer,” he said. “Actually, I thought about becoming a lawyer. I saw your boss at a trial that I had to watch for a class. He’s amazing.”

“Which one?” she said. “Smith or Ackerman?”

“Smith,” he said. “Okay, I have an awkward question. Are Ackerman and Smith… partners?”

“Of course they’re partners,” she said. “They’re lawyers.”

He seemed shocked with that stupid of an answer. Maybe that would dock 10 minutes off this date.

“Anyways,” he said. “I figured out where I know you,”

“Oh?”

“You’re friends with Eren Jaeger,”

Friends was one way of putting it. So was the former love of her life. The man she wanted to father her children. The center of her universe. Those all worked too.

Shoot. She had been too slow in responding. “Oh? How do you know him?”

“We’re good friends, actually.” Floch said. “Kinda crazy that he’s going to have a kid,”

Her breath caught in her throat. “A baby?”

“I know,” he said. “It almost seems out of character, but he sounded really excited when he talked to me about it.”

She couldn’t believe it. The man who told her that he didn’t want kids was having a baby. It felt like a slap in the face. Was he going to marry this girl, whoever it was? Was the baby planned? The questions rushed through her head at warp speed.

“You okay?” he said.

“I’m actually feeling sick all of a sudden,” She stood up and put on her coat. “Thanks for meeting me here. I need to leave now. This should cover my meal,” She slammed a twenty on the table.

The drive home passed in a blur of streetlights and stoplights. It felt like she was outside her body as she parked and walked up the stairs.

Mikasa tried not to cry, she really did. But there were hot tears streaming down her face, dropping off her chin. It wasn’t a dignified cry, somewhere between a weep and a whimper.

Pathetic. She wasn’t any different than she was 10 years ago when she was pining for her best friend. She wasn’t different from a year ago when he took all his things and left town without saying a word. She was sad, pathetic Mikasa.

If anyone were to see her like this….

She snuck into her bedroom like a teenager sneaking in from a night out. Hopefully Armin and Annie weren’t here. It’s one thing to cry and another to cry in front of your friends.

She saw herself in the mirror. Her skin was red and splotchy. The tears made her eyes look glassy. She tried to think of a positive thought about herself, but none came.

So she let it all go.

Big fat tears rolled down her face and down her neck. He couldn’t have faked it all, right? Five years was a long time. There must have been something there once upon a time. Otherwise, what did that even mean for her?

It meant that she was worthless, a burden. That he felt sorry for her. That he had nothing better to do. That she was a stupid silly little girl who never grew out of fairytales.

She got out the scarf he left at her place from under her bed. The one piece remaining of him. The only proof that he once loved her.

“Mikasa?”

She sat up on her bed and wiped her tears with the scarf. “Ya?” She said, trying to sound like she wasn’t crying.

Annie opened the door. “I’m sorry to bug you but I heard-” she looked down and saw the scarf in Mikasa’s hand “Oh no.”

Mikasa thought the worst of her tears had already come. But this time, it was more than tears. It was sobbing, wailing. It was every part that still missed him screaming after being silent for so long. The sobs caught in her chest. Her breaths felt shallow and hollow.

She felt Annie place her hand on her back. She couldn’t bear to catch her eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” But did Annie even hear her through the tears?

“Don’t be,” Annie said, pulling her into her arms. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

It was the cry of a kid. She could see her eyes all red and puffy in the mirror in the corner. Her hands were covered in makeup from when she wiped her tears. She wiped some drool on the scarf.

“I feel pathetic,” Mikasa said.

“You’re not pathetic,” Annie rubbed her back. Her voice was calm and low. “You know, you’ve tried to be so brave when it happened, but it’s okay to break down sometimes.”

The tears started to slow. She could breathe again. She took a tissue from her bedside table and blew her nose. When she spoke, she didn’t look at Annie. She couldn’t.

“The day we broke up, I asked if we were ever going to get married. And he just laid into me. He called me needy and clingy. He called me a slave and said he hated me. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted so badly to work it out, even after he said all those things. I thought I could make him love me again, make him want to stay. But I couldn’t. I wasn’t good enough. I’m so stupid.”

She pounded at her legs. How could she be so stupid? Shouldn’t she have known? How does the love of your life fall out of love with you? Did he ever love her?

“Mikasa. Mikasa.” Annie said. “Look at me. You are good enough. You are more than good enough. Mikasa, you are the most amazing woman I have ever known. You’re smart, you’re pretty, you’re strong. It just wasn’t the right thing.”

“Thanks Annie,” she said as she wiped her tears.“I keep on thinking I’m over it. And the crazy thing is I don’t want to be with him anymore. It was painful even before it ended. But even though it’s for the best, I still miss him. I still love him. And I can’t stop loving him.”

“I know you loved him so deeply and you wanted so badly for it to work, but you can’t make someone stay who doesn’t want to stay. That space you have in your heart for Eren is there because you are a good person who loved someone deeply and unconditionally. And you deserve someone who will love you like that.”

Mikasa laughed. “Who are you and what have you done with Annie?”

Annie cracked a smile. “Armin and I talk about Eren a lot. It’s been a hard loss for him to handle.”

“It’s been hard for all of us,” Mikasa said. She thought of all his friends, how he tore through them like a hurricane.

“It’s so hard to see how much he hurt you two,” she said. “I really wish I could make it better.”

Annie looked different in this light. Her face, angular and serious, looked softer. Her hair was down, all soft and fine, still a little damp. She smelled like honey lotion and freshly shampooed hair.

She was beautiful.

“Sometimes I don’t recognize myself anymore,” said Annie.

“What do you mean?” said Mikasa.

“I’ve gotten so... soft.”

Mikasa nodded.

“Like I used to be closed off from everyone. I used to care only about my dad and my cat. And then I cared about Hitch for whatever reason. And then you. Then I started dating Armin and things went downhill from there. Because now I actually feel things and I get my feelings hurt.”

“That’s a mood.” said Mikasa.

“It’s worth it though. I was missing something by being lonely all the time. It’s nice to have people to love.” said Annie.

“He really loves you,” Mikasa said softly.

“You think so?” Annie said, not meeting Mikasa’s eyes.

“I can tell by how he looks at you. He’s always looking at you, and whenever someone tells a joke he turns to see if you’re laughing. When you’re not around, you’re all he talks about,” Mikasa says. “He looks at you like you have the ocean in your eyes,”

“That sounds pretty boring to have to hear about me all the time,” Annie said.

“It’s actually really nice,” Mikasa said. “He’s really happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen him.”

They sat in silence.

Mikasa spoke. “Have you told him you love him yet?”

Annie sighed. “It’s one thing to feel it and another thing to say it. I’m brave about most things, but not about that.”

She seemed done talking about it, so Mikasa didn’t press it further.

“Mikasa?”

“Hmm?”

“I can sleep on your floor if you don’t want to be alone tonight,” Annie said.

“Or you can sleep in my actual bed with me like a normal person.”

For all their quirks, Mikasa thought they made a good pair.

“Remember, homeschooled. Virgin. No friends.” Annie flopped out of the bed. “I’m getting my own pillow though.”

Saturday

She woke up to the smell of bacon and pancakes. Annie was already out of her bed by the time she woke up. Saturday morning breakfast was an Eren-Mikasa-Armin ritual that turned into an Mikasa-Armin ritual and then into a Mikasa-Armin-Annie ritual. It was one of many reasons that Saturday was her favorite day of the week.

“Morning sunshine!” Armin said, handing her a mug of coffee. “Heard about your slumber party last night.”

“That’s one way to put it,” said Mikasa, opening the fridge. “Do we have any creamer left?”

“I bought some the last time I went to the grocery store. Check the top shelf.” Annie said, flipping a pancake. “You’re welcome, by the way..”

“Did you know that Annie puts almost an entire sundae’s worth of syrup in her coffee every time we go to Cowboy’s Coffee down the street? Like it literally had two tablespoons of coffee when all was said and done?”

“Hey!” Annie said. “I didn’t move into this apartment for you to expose me like this.”

“I know, you moved here because the commute was unbelievably short.” Mikasa said.

“I still can’t get over how I can bike to work.”

“It really is a nice commute,” Armin said.

“Armin, you work from home. You don’t have a commute,” said Mikasa.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good one,” Armin said. “Anyways, how are the Tinder dates going?”

She sighed. “Not well. I think I’m going to call it quits.”

“Well, you tried. And I’m proud of you for trying.” Armin said.

“I keep on thinking I must be over it, but then I’m not.” she said.

Armin nodded. “I miss him too. But he’s just not the same Eren anymore.”

“I don’t want to be back in a relationship with him,” she said. “I don’t miss the hurt he caused me. I just miss him, and I wish I didn’t. I just want it to be over.”

“I want to stop thinking about him as much. You think moving out would make it better, but it hasn’t,” He said, stabbing the pancakes with slight aggression. “It’s weird because he was my best friend my entire life and now he’s a stranger.”

He continued. “One day I’ll look back and all this will have a place in my life. The story will make sense, but right now, it just sucks.”

Annie took a sip of orange juice. “Are we really going to let Eren Jaeger ruin Saturday morning pancakes?”

“No, we aren’t,” Mikasa said. “Pass the syrup.”

\--

It felt like forever since she had been to the gym, but it was only one week in reality. A week of bad Tinder dates. Going to the gym felt like a relief. No expectations here. It felt nice to focus on her body, to get out of her head.

“I’m going to fill my water bottle. Be right back,” she said.

And there he was. Handsome Gym Guy. A little sweaty but a lot muscular. He looked particularly good that day.

Now, it had been a long week of failed dates. But what could she possibly have to lose by flirting with Handsome Gym Guy?

But what if it was awkward?

She kept mulling it over as she started filling her water bottle at the fountain next to him. She could just not look at him. She had an easy out.

“I think your water bottle is done,” he said.

“Oh,” she said. The water flowed over the sides. “Thank you.” Nice going, idiot. “It’s been a long week.”

“I’ve been there before,” he said.

She turned and looked at him. Man, was he handsome. A nice chiseled jaw with a bit of stubble. Nice eyebrows too.

And then she saw it.

“Does your water bottle really say ‘I’m a horse girl and proud’?”

“Yep,” he said. He sounded embarrassed. “It was the only one in my car today. I was hoping no one would notice.”

“I feel like there is a story behind it,” she said. “Or are you just really into horses?”

“So, my friends sometimes call me Horse Boy as a joke. One of them got me this water bottle because they think they’re really funny.” he said.

“Your friends sound incredibly thoughtful,” she said.

“Occasionally they’re nice, but we have fun.” he smiled. A smile that gave her butterflies.

Mikasa felt awkward. She was awkward. Had she forgotten how to flirt? Had it been that long?

“You know,” he said. “I swear I’ve seen you somewhere before,”

Mikasa blinked. “I’m here almost everyday.”

“No no. Besides that. Maybe a party or something like that?”

Mikasa tried to think. She went to work and the gym and that was about it. What was the last party she went to?

“Do you know Sasha Braus?” she asked.

“Yes!” he said. “How do you know Sasha?”

“Sasha and I were roommates for four years,” said Mikasa.

“That’s crazy,” he said. “Sasha and I work together.”

She started racking her brain for any memories about Sasha’s work life. Did she ever mention any really hot guys?

“That’s wild. She probably told me stories about you.” she said.

“She mostly talked about Nicollo and food to me,” he said.

Mikasa laughed. “Sounds like Sasha.”

“Are you going to her wedding?” he said.

“Yes. I’m a bridesmaid actually,” she said. “What about you? Are you going?”

“I’m planning on it.”

“Cool. I’ll see you there,” she said. She turned to leave.

“Wait,” he said.

She turned around. “Yes?”

“Would you want to go out sometime? Like to dinner?”

“That sounds lovely,” she said.

Sounds lovely? What was she even saying? She could feel her skin crawl from the cringe.

“Let me get your phone number,” he said, pulling out his phone. “I guess this would be a good time to ask your name.”

“Mikasa Ackerman.”

“Nice to meet you, Mikasa. I’m Jean. Spelled like the girl's name but pronounced like John. It’s kinda confusing,” he said.

“Thanks,” she said. “I guess I’ll see you around?” She turned to leave again.

“Wait, what time are you free? For dinner?” He said.

“Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry, I don’t do this often.”

Way to go girl. Make yourself seem like a lonely spinster. Make him want you.

“Does Friday work?” he said.

“Friday works. I can meet you somewhere,” she said.

“Awesome. We can figure out what place to go sometime this week,” he said. “What do you do for work?”

“I’m a lawyer,” she said.

“Wow, you’re way cooler than me,” he said.

He was complimenting her??? What was that about?

“Well, I’m going to get back to my friend,” she said. “I’ll see you around?”

“I hope so,” he said.

She walked back to Annie, but she couldn’t stop glancing back at him. She’d catch him looking at her and they would both look away. Was she blushing?

“You’re blushing,” Annie said as soon as Mikasa got back. “What happened? I saw you talking to him,”

“We’re going on a date on Friday,” she said.

Annie’s face lit up. “How do you feel?” she asked.

“Good! It feels nice,” said Mikasa.

The drive home was peaceful. She and Annie turned up the radio and drove in silence. Mikasa stared at the passing streetlights. She felt her phone vibrate. She looked and she smiled.

It was him.


End file.
